1,5 million march in Mexico against electoral fraud

One and a half million people, according to the organisers,
marched on Sunday, July 16th to protest against electoral fraud in the Mexican
presidential elections of July 2nd. Even according to the Mexican DF police, which put the figure of those on the
march at 1.1 million, this was one of the largest demonstrations in Mexican
history.

One and a half million people, according to the organisers,
marched on Sunday, July 16th to protest against electoral fraud in the Mexican
presidential elections of July 2nd. This was the culmination of a
national march called by PRD candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO),
demanding a full recount, "vote by vote, polling station by polling station".
Even according to the Mexican DF police, which put the figure of those on the
march at 1.1 million, this was one of the largest demonstrations in Mexican
history.

The demonstration went from the National Anthropology Museum
to the massive Zocalo Square. But the Zocalo was already full, even before the
march started, with hundreds of thousands already filling the streets of the
centre of the capital unable to get in. Many had come by bus, by car, by truck,
from their regions, leaving on Wednesday and making their way to the capital.

The mood was very radical with slogans like "If we get
Calderon, there will be a revolution". AMLO said that this was only the
beginning of a campaign of mass civil resistance which would include setting up
camps outside the offices of every one of the country's 300 electoral districts, setting up a
national committee to coordinate the mobilisation and calling a new national
march in Mexico city on July 30th, with the target of doubling the
attendance.

The determination of the masses of ordinary workers and peasants is summed
up in some of their statements, recorded in the media reports. "People are
really angry. We're not just going to go home. We're going to keep going until
he is declared president," said Francisco Benavides, a peasant. An old
lady declared: "We are tired of the rich getting their way and stealing from
the poor, we are not going to allow them to steal this election".

The demonstration yesterday marks an important point in the struggle against
electoral fraud. This struggle cannot be won just by legal means, but by mass
mobilisation in the streets, including and leading up to a 24-hour general
strike, as the comrades from the Marxist Tendency Militante have been arguing. If, as Obrador said, a "small group of privileged people", through the
use of "tricks and money", stole the election, they can only be defeated
through the united action of the masses of workers and peasants who voted for
the PRD.

The problem facing the ruling class in Mexico is that these are the worst
possible conditions to carry out the programme they need. If the previous PAN
government of Fox was unable to carry out any of the major counter-reforms they
need (privatisation of oil and electricity, destruction of the pensions system
and the "reform" of the labour law) because of mass opposition, a government of
Calderon, widely regarded as illegitimate, will be even less able to carry them
out.

But they are still very afraid of Lopez Obrador coming to power, and the
reason is precisely what we witnessed on Sunday and over the last two weeks:
the mass of workers and peasants who support AMLO do so because they want a
fundamental change in their living conditions, and if Lopez Obrador comes to
power on the back of such a wave of anger and expectation, then he will be
under enormous pressure from below, and the movement could go beyond what he
actually intends.

The crisis of Mexican capitalism has created a situation in which whatever
the ruling class does, it will be wrong. They will attempt to diffuse the
current crisis, delaying the decision of the tribunal, maybe allowing a partial
recount, trying to wear out the movement by not taking a decision until the end
of August ... and they might even succeed. But the period that has opened in
Mexico is one of increased confrontation between the classes, one in which the
masses of workers and peasants will learn very valuable lessons and recover
their best revolutionary traditions.